Just got the new Weber gadget, which I understand is not available in the US yet, and for which I have not been able to find any reference here on the board. So for your info, here is what I got.

The oven consists of a enamelled insert, or new lid, which fits tightly on top of the Weber kettle.The insert has a concave bottom with a rim that rests on the kettle perimeter; a hinged low domed lid covers a pizza stone insert in the bottom part. The stone measures just under 16" in diameter.The hot flue gases from the briquettes enters the domed area through 4 large slots at the back, and exits at the front through the low wide opening cut in the lid.The stone is not exposed directly to the fire from below, protected by the concave steel bottom, which has only two smaller vent holes leading to the underside of the stone, hence no significant circulation of flue gases under the stone, but instead it is heated by indirect radiation from below.

In use, the kettle is charged with 100 glowing briquettes and preheated for 15 minutes; the claim is a pie baked in about 2-5 minutes.According to instructions, the pizza should be turned during the bake for evenness.The charge of briquettes should last for an hour.

Also supplied, are two aluminium heat guards, to protect the plastic handles from the increased temperatures of the kettle, which just snaps into place under the kettle rim.

I attach e few pictures for your information, and will return with more when the first pizzas have been toasted.

BRHenrik

PS: I have no connections to Weber, but are in a quest to find a better pizza oven for out door use until I build a WFO.

Hi Morgan,Have not yet fired it up, so I do not know the temperatures it will reach....but will measure with IR gun.

I do not think it is practical or necessary to add wood....the handle protectors indicate that the temperatures really go up....and you do not have access to the fire once the oven is placed on the kettle, unless you lift it away. If the use of wood is for aroma....it may be a different story, and smaller chuncks could be added through the flue gas openings

Henrik, thanks for the post and pics. As a long time Weber customer I know that they generally make good, well built products. Hopefully they have done their homework on this one. Would be great to know both the stone temp and the dome (lid) temp at max heat. If you can get it, I would suggest lump charcoal.Can't wait to hear and see the results. Does Weber tell you the kind of stone they use?

Henrik, thanks for the post and pics. As a long time Weber customer I know that they generally make good, well built products. Hopefully they have done their homework on this one. Would be great to know both the stone temp and the dome (lid) temp at max heat. If you can get it, I would suggest lump charcoal.Does Weber tell you the kind of stone they use?

Mark,Weber advise to use briquettes specifically and not lump charcoal, as briquettes provide longer burn time.

I am sure I saw a reference to the stone material, but unfortunately, I can not find it now.The stone itself is not stamped with any text or numbers. It is light non uniform (specked) yellow colour, and porous (not sintered).

By the way, the two smaller holes in the dome under the stone makes it easy to lift the stone out of its recess, with two fingers down through the flue vent and up into the small hole, the stone can be lifted....when cold...

Mark,Weber advise to use briquettes specifically and not lump charcoal, as briquettes provide longer burn time.

BRHenrik

As a former Competition Smoker, using Weber smokers, I agree with you, "that is what they say". I even called Weber and discussed the fallicy of their statements. They responded that they recommend briquettes because that is what they have experience with. Using lump hard wood charcoal will produce hotter fires AND will last several hours. If you are going to bake pizzas for 6 hrs straight, well .......If your temps are high enough with briquettes then by all means go for it, if on the other hand you want,need, more oven heat, try lump.

Thanks for the posting. Please post photos when you make pizza. i have heard good things about this particular Weber grill. The cost is a lot better than a WFO and takes up less room. (not looking to start a discussion about the WFO vs this Weber grill) Let us know what you like or dislike about the Weber, once you make your pizza. Thanks for sharing.

TomNPSI am considering getting this grill too. I just want to hear some more feedback first.

Wow! Never thought I'd see this. Hope Weber credits VillaRoma and the many folks on this board that refined the concept through trial and error and pure ingenuity. Having made my LBE two years ago it continues to amaze me and my friends and sparked my obsession to create great pizza at home.

Hi Guys,Apologies to the ones I have disappointed by the time it took before the oven came to a quick test yesterday.

The 100 (Heat Beads) briquettes, as the manual states should be used, were started in a Weber chimney starter, and distributed evenly in the kettle on the lower rack, and after 15 minutes preheat, my IR thermometer registered respectively 280 deg. C (535 F) and 220 deg. C (430 F) at the back and front end of the Cordierite stone.

The first pies were made from a dough of an Italian pizza flour, water, salt, IDY and virgin olive oil, hydration about 63%, maturation for 24h in the fridge. This flour gives a quite tacky and soft dough (even at this relatively low hydration), which performs well in my electric oven, when baked around 325 deg. C. The crust browns well and not excessively, as I find ordinary bread flours tend to do......I use semolina as bench flour.

The first (white) pizza was easily placed on the stone, as the lid lifts and provides for generous access.The manual underlines, that the pizza should be turned during the bake, and I could also see a tendency for the crust to brown quicker at the back end, where the hot flue from the briquettes enter.On the 1. picture, after about 2 minutes bake time, you see the oven spring is OK, but no browning has taken place yet.After a couple of turns and about 5 minutes bake time, the white pizza was sliced, the underside just faintly browned, the cheese well melted, but the potato topping was still raw...

The third pizza, with tomato sauce, mozz and cherry tomatoes (after the bake, dressed with parma ham and ruccola), as shown on the second picture, responded as if the temperature had now increased to the better, the stone temperatures about the same as before, and a measurement of the lid/gas temperature over the pizza show a bout 330 deg. C. (625 F) This measurement is probably not correct, as an IR measurement on a shiny surface creates a lot of error due to reflection and emission coefficient being different to the IR-gun setpoint.However, I still needed about 6 minutes bake time, but this time the base was nicely browned and crispy, but far from any charring.The picture is taken after about 5 minutes in the oven.

My conclusion was to switch on my electric oven for the next bakes, as I consider the temperatures on the Weber too low. Contradicting the Weber manual, a test next time with charcoal instead of briquettes is logical, to try increase the temperatures.My aim is a bake time of no more than a couple of minutes and better browning, while the cheese remains mostly unbrowned.

The result of my first test is, that if you come from baking pizza in a domestic oven at low temperatures, the Weber is a step forward.Also, the Weber provides the joy of baking pizza on your patio, and the good access to the bakinge stone is a plus over my two-stone setup.

Thank you for reading this far, and sorry for the lack of finished pizza pictures, but the birthday crowd were hungry and put a limit to my photograpy...